Russian Orthodox leader backs Putin's successor

Patriarch Alexei II and other leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church have voiced their support for President Vladimir Putin's anointing of First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as his successor, reports ENI Daily News Service.

They also approved of Medvedev's declaration that he would appoint Putin as prime minister after the scheduled 2 March presidential elections. With the backing of Putin and the United Russia party, which dominates Russian politics, Medvedev, aged 42, is expected to win by a wide margin.

Patriarch Alexei said that a good indication of Medvedev's capabilities is the deputy prime minister's nearly two-decade long political association with Putin, with both men being natives of St. Petersburg, and where Alexei served as metropolitan when it was still Leningrad.

Speaking to reporters after an event at the Russian Academy of Sciences on 11 December, Alexei said that Medvedev has been a great supporter of the church in the academic sphere, pushing for State structures to recognise degrees from religious educational institutions.

"Before we used to hit a brick wall when we raised this question," said Alexei, the patriarchate's Web site, www.patriarchia.ru reported. He said Medvedev's support has been essential in discussions to introduce a religious component to the Russian school programme. A course called "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" has been introduced in some schools, but has been met with resistance, including from leading members of the Academy of Sciences.

At a meeting earlier in December with heads of Jewish educational institutions of Russia, Medvedev also said he supports the presence of clergy in the military.

"It is clear that the presence in the army of clergy of various faiths simplifies the situation and helps conduct education work," Medvedev said, the Interfax-Religion news service reported. The Russian military is plagued by discipline and morale problems.

In 2006, Medvedev was appointed to head the Russian government's religious affairs commission.

Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk, the chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate welcomed the possibility of Putin serving as Russian prime minister.

"If such a decision is made, it will only be to Russia's benefit," he told journalists.

During campaigning for Russia's national elections that took place on 2 December, opposition party leaders were critical of the close ties that seemed to exist between Putin and Russian Orthodox leaders. Kasparov.ru, the Web site of opposition leader Garry Kasparov, had written, "The Kremlin continues to cynically use the church as its PR agency, dragging believers into unlawful and amoral politics."

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[01/03/2008]

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